


Class Can Wait

by in_way_too_deep



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Confessions, Established Relationship, M/M, Nightmares, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-07-11 09:36:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15969644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/in_way_too_deep/pseuds/in_way_too_deep
Summary: Ronan interrupts an English class to confess. Adam Parrish loves learning almost as much as he loves Ronan.





	Class Can Wait

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: “if I don’t say it now, I’ll regret it later.”

Adam Parrish rarely dreamed; he simply went from an exhausted upright position to an unconscious horizontal position and back again with nothing in between. Adam Parrish rarely dreamed and he  _never_  daydreamed (Cabeswater visions were more hallucination than anything else). Really, what he meant was that he never trivially fantasized. 

Of course he had aspirations, and he would sometimes zone out thinking about something or other, like how he was going to pay his bills, what homework was due soon, and, a recent addition to the list, Ronan Lynch. Even so, he only thought about those things, he never conjured vivid enough mental images to truly separate himself from reality. Adam thought he knew all of these things about himself, but he was starting to reconsider.

Ronan was standing in the doorway of Adam’s,  _currently occurring_ , English class. Ronan, who hadn’t returned to the school grounds since he officially quit in the aftermath of what Adam termed the ‘Glendower Events.’ As soon as he'd quit, he'd vowed never to return to ‘the hell hole’ that was Aglionby, yet there he was. 

But, Ronan Lynch wasn’t a liar, which meant that Adam must have been daydreaming. Or possibly hallucinating. At least a Cabeswater induced hallucination would have explained what Adam was seeing.

As appealing a theory as it was, Adam soon had to admit that it wasn’t the case. The teacher had stopped the lesson and everyone in the room was staring at Ronan and, as far as Adam was aware, daydreams and hallucinations couldn’t be shared by sheer proximity. This forced Adam to accept that Ronan was actually there and couldn’t be explained away by mental fatigue.

Ronan seemed oblivious to the mental aerobics Adam was preforming and unconcerned with the number of eyes on him; he only had eyes for Adam.

The teacher finally seemed to realize that if he wasn’t the first to speak he would lose all sense of authority. With something so precious and falsely inflated on the line, he couldn’t hesitate. 

He spoke in a reprimanding tone. “Mr. Lynch, I was under the impression that you no longer attended Aglionby, yet you don’t seem to have a visitor’s badge.”

Ronan, never one to be deterred by rules he deemed arbitrary, replied dismissively. “Yup.”

Then, disregarding the teacher entirely, he gestured for Adam to come out of the room. Adam responded by shaking his head in a similarly emphatic gesture. However, he was forced to relent when he saw Ronan’s serious-issue face ™.

During this silent conversation, the teacher stood at a loss, perpetually offended, at the front of the room. He seemed unsure about how the situation had slipped out of his control so quickly, but he was desperate to regain his dignity.

So, when Adam asked to be excused, as polite as always, the teacher was unyielding. “Oh  _sure_ , I  _always_  find it appropriate to release students whenever their delinquent friends interrupt my lesson.” He was probably about to continue with a rather needling comment about Adam’s particularly precarious position at the school, courtesy of his status as a scholarship student, but was stopped by Adam’s response.

Adam played dumb and pretended not to notice the facetiousness of his teacher’s short diatribe. “Thank-you sir, I sincerely apologize for the interruption.” Deeming his response sufficient, Adam stood and exited the room without looking back. 

The teacher, too surprised by his most reserved student’s rebellion to stop him, angrily resumed his lesson.

Adam caught the bitterness in the teachers voice and knew that Ronan’s actions would reflect poorly on Adam. This irritated Adam to no end, because, more often than not, it was Ronan’s thoughtlessness that hurt Adam.

This hurt manifested in the form of a clenched jaw and a pair of raised brows. “What’s so important it couldn’t wait?”

Ronan replied, voice colored with what Adam interpreted to be a tinge of fear, “I had a nightmare.”

At this Adam deflated; he was still annoyed but he could never respond angrily when Ronan was forthright about his vulnerabilities. “Oh.” 

After a pause Adam shook his head as if trying to get something straight. “But, why are you here?” Adam shook his head again, this time signaling that he misspoke. “I mean, I always like seeing you, but I was in class. And, besides, you've never come before.”

He had a valid point. Ronan had nightmares fairly frequently, but he’d always wait for Adam to get back to talk about them (if he chose to discuss them at all). Even when it was a particularly bad nightmare, he might come pick Adam up from campus, but he never arrived before the last bell, and he never stepped onto campus.

Ronan attempted to defend his reasoning. “This was different.”

Adam’s face scrunched up in concern as he spoke, nearly cutting Ronan off in his urgency, “Is everyone okay?”

Ronan, irritated by his inability to verbalize his thoughts, let out a frustrated growl.

Adam recognized that Ronan’s frustration was internal and waited patiently for Ronan to find his voice.

When Ronan finally spoke, it wasn’t exactly what Adam had expected. “You died.”

Raising one eyebrow, clearly finding the statement at least a little funny, Adam replied mock-seriously. “No I didn’t.”

Ronan rolled his eyes but seemed to respect the bit of levity Adam supplied. “Shut up smartass.”

On the surface, Ronan’s comment may have been teasing but Adam was able to read between the lines. He realized Ronan needed more time to gather himself and simply lifted both his palms in a show of surrender.

A few moments later, and after what looked like much introspection, Ronan locked eyes with Adam and spoke seriously. “I need to say this. Just, can you not say anything until I’m done?”

Adam’s face adjusted to meet the change in tone and he nodded his agreement, allowing Ronan to continue, in a rushed voice. He spoke as if he had to get the words out as quickly as possible, as if they would lodge in the back of his throat and choke him if he was too slow. “In my dream you died and I just. It was awful. And I realized that I needed to tell you something. I needed you to know but you couldn’t. So, I just. I realized if I don’t say it now, I’ll regret it later.” He gathered his courage, swallowed past the lump in his throat, and kept looking into Adam’s eyes. “I love you.” He paused briefly. “Shit, I’m  _in_  love with you.” Then, as if he were speaking only to himself, his voice dropped to a mutter. “Have been for a while now.” Finished speaking, Ronan looked away, unwilling to risk seeing Adam respond poorly.

Eventually, after Adam didn’t say anything, Ronan lifted his face to meet Adam’s stare. Apparently, that was what Adam had been waiting for because he spoke as soon as their eyes met. “Ronan. I love you too.”

The relief Ronan felt showed obviously on his face and Adam laughed amicably. “You're an idiot though.” Adam stopped Ronan’s inevitably sarcastic response by grabbing his hand and pulling him closer. “Of course I love you.  _Still_ , this could have waited till  _after_  class.”

When Ronan responded with a serious shake of his head in disagreement Adam laughed and pulled him into a kiss. It was a light kiss, filled with the sublime feeling of relief that comes from the lifting of a secret. A kiss that was laughter, love, and good memories, both past and promised. It was a kiss that convinced the obsessively studious Adam Parrish that missing class wasn’t  _that_  bad after all. 

Ronan Lynch may have been the best worst influence in Adam’s life. Or possibly, Adam thought, Ronan was the worst best influence.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first foray into posting on AO3 so there might be a learning curve, but let me know what you think. I enjoyed writing this and hope you enjoyed reading it. Let me know if there's anything you'd like me to write (I want to inflate my ego by believing I have an audience lol).


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